Suspension device for control boxes



'April 13, 1954 c. W. BERTHIEZ SUSPENSION DEVICE FOR CONTROL BOXES Original Filed April 7, 1948 \NVENT"0R Charles William Ber'hnez ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 13, 1954 SUSPENSION DEVICE FOR CONTROL BOXES Charles William Berthiez, Paris, France Original application April 7, 1948, Serial No. 19,454. Divided and this application January Z6, 1950, Serial No. 140,657

Claims priority, application France December 22, 1947 6 Claims.

This invention relates to apparatus for controlling the operation of machine tools, hoisting apparatus and the like. The invention more particularly relates to control boxes or the like assolciated with apparatus and devices for effecting control of the movable members of such machines.

It has been proposed heretofore to suspend pendant control boxes at the end of a sheath enclosing all the electric cables connecting the control members carried by said control boxes with contactors controlling the motors driving the different members of the machine. However, such prior control boxes are not lcapable of adaptation for all the positions of the operator, which greatly interferes with the work of said operator.

It is an object of the invention to provide a pendant control box of compact construction which may be exibly supported for movement about the machine as well as upwardly and downwardly and which provides in addition for rotation of the control box on a vertical axis, so that the operator may move the box into the most convenient position for inspecting the work while having the box and the control members carried thereby continually at hand and in visual range.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following description taken in connection with the drawings which show two embodiments of a pendant control box. Moreover, certain structural features of the control boxes which constitute improvements upon the prior art devices will be understood from the description to be given in connection with these drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical section of the suspension means for a pendant control box designed according to the invention;

Fig. 2 is also a vertical section showing a modication of the suspension means shown in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on line XQ-XXX of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the suspended control box.

I will now describe with reference to Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the construction of the suspension means for the pendant control box 499 connected at its upper end to this suspension means.

According to a rst embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1 the pendant control box 499 is suspended, by means about to be disclosed, from the lower end of a sheath 156 attached at its upper end to an overhead support 805 as shown in Fig. 4,

through which sheath electric cables 192 may pass which connect the different controlling and signalling members of the pendant control box, such as levers, push buttons, lamps, and the like, to the relays and auxiliaries used for the control of the different motors driving the movable members of the machine.

The control box 499 itself is formed at its upper end to receive the outer race 15| of a selfaligning ball bearing provided with two rows of balls, this race being positioned between a shoulder 152 machined in the control box 499 and a clip ring 153 housed in a groove 154 also formed in the upper end of the control box 499.

The inner race 155 of the ball bearing is carred by a sleeve 156 the lower threaded part of which is adapted to receive a nut 151 locking the race 155 against a shoulder on the sleeve 156. This sleeve is welded at 800 to the lower end of the sheath 150 the upper end of which is welded at in overhead support 803. The sleeve 156 carries an inverted cup shaped member 158 secured to the sleeve 156 by means of screws 159 which fasten to the sleeve at the same time a anged socket 169. This socket cooperates with an expansible sleeve 16| the two ends of which are tapering, the lower end of this sleeve 16| cooperating with the lower correspondingly tapering inner surface of the flanged socket 169 while the upper end of the expansible sleeve 16| cooperates with the inner frusto-conical surface of washer 162 held in place by means of a nut 163 threaded on the outer surface of the anged socket 160. The object of this mounting is to reinforce the means for securing the sheath as above described through welding between the terminal sleeve 156 and the sheath 150. The electrical cables 192 extend downwardly from the mouth of the sheath 15D freely across the space at the upper part of the box 499 and through holes in partition 809 into the main body ol the box 499 where they are connected to the electrical control parts contained within the box and operated by the levers, push buttons, etc., above referred to and shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4.

The inverted lcup shaped member 158 is provided with a projection or stud 164 serving as an abutment for limiting the rocking motion of the control box and adapted to cooperate with the shoulder of a recess '|65 formed at the inside of an outer inverted cup shaped member 166 rigid with an annular part 161 to which it is secured through screws 168. Centering pins 169 provide for the concentricity of the mounting'of the outer cup shaped member 166 with the other parts disposed on the axis of the ball bearing with the other parts disposed on the axis of rotation of the ball bearing. The annular part 161 is secured to the upper portion of the control box 499 by any suitable means, such as screws 110.

An abutment 11| is secured inside the outer inverted cup shaped member 166 by means of screws 112 and serves for limiting the rotary movement of the control box with reference to the inner inverted cup shaped member 158 through engagement with the stud 154 fastened in the inner inverted cup shaped member.

The operation of the arrangement that has just been described Will be clear. By reason of the control box 499 being mounted on a self-aligning ball bearing mounted on the sleeve 156 secured to the lower end of the sheath 159 it is possible to produce rotation of the control box about a substantially vertical axis through an angle of nearly 360 limited only by the engagement between the stud 195. and the abutment 11|. The object of such limitation is to prevent the rotation of the control box 499 through more than one revolution in order to avoid damage to the electric cables leading to it through sheath 150. It is apparent that the mounting disclosed, in addition to a rotary movement upon a substan- `tially vertical axis, allows also for some inclina tion of the control box for greater convenience of operation by the operator of the machine. The extent of this inclination is limited by the engagement of the stud 164 with the shoulder of recess 165 of the inverted cup shaped member 195.

Fig. 2 shows a mounting which is somewhat different from that of Fig. 1 in being constructed for unlimited rotation of the control box 499 about the vertical axis. In this embodiment the control box 499 is suspended from the machine frame by means of a chain 133 instead of by means of sheath 150 enclosing the electric cables.

According to this embodiment, the control box 499 itself is supported by an outer race 114 of a ball bearing which is held in place as in the preceding embodiment by means of a clip ring 153. The inner race 115 of the ball bearing is mounted on a hub 116 against a shoulder formed thereon and is held fast on this hub by means of nut 111. The hub 116 is secured by means of screws 118. as shown in Fig. 3, to the supporting head 119 which carries the yoke piece 189, Fig. 2, through which pin 18| passes for engaging the lower end of the suspension chain 113. The head 119 is provided with two openings 192 therethrough which receive the terminal sleeves 133 for corresponding sheaths 184` 185 welded thereto at 801 and serving foi` leading the electric cables to the inside of the control box 499. The terminal sleeves 183 respectively are held in place by means of flanges 186 secured to the supporting head 119 by means of screws 191 as illustrated in Fig. Thus the weight of the control box 499 is supported not by the sheaths 123i, '195 protecting the electric cables but by the chain 113.

The means which provides for unlimited rotation o f the control box in the embodiment of Figs. 2, 3 ls constituted by a system of conductive slip-rings and brushes cooperating therewith which are coaxial with the axis of rotation of the control box 499.' The slip-rings 188, Fig. 2, are mounted on insulating rings 18s stacked upon one another and secured to the base of the hub 11B by means of screws 199. The slip-rings 188 are provided each with a counter-sunk hole 19t in which may be soldered the ends of the electric wires 192.

The conductive slip-rings 183 are in contact with the current collecting brushes 193 secured by means of bolts 195 to an insulating arm 19t fastened to the control box 499, the bolts 195 acting also as terminals for conductors 8| I, 8 I3 passing through holes in the partition 999 as in Fig. 1.

It is apparent that this arrangement makes it possible to rotate the control box 499 through any desired angle. Moreover, even if the control box is rotated through more than one or several complete revolutions in the same direction this will not result in any torsional stress in the electric cables 192, 8| I, 813 because relative movement 1s provided between the brushes 193 and the conductive slip-rings 188.

In both embodiments described an inspection door 196'secured by screws 191 serves for the mounting of the control box on the suspension means used and for checking the state of the connections during operation.

This application is a divisional application of the application Serial No. 19,454 filed April '7, 1948, which was itself a continuation-in-part of the applications Serial No. 591,362 filed VAugust 1'1, 1946, and Serial No. 786,670 filed October 18, 1947, both now abandoned.

What I claim is:

1. A suspension device for a pendant control box carrying a plurality of individual electric control elements operable on at least one face of the box for controlling the operation of a machine tool or the like when operatively connected thereto, said device comprising a hollow suspension member disposed above said control box and providing within said member a substantially unobstructed space through which centrally of the space an axis of rotation of said control box extends generally vertically, said space being adapted to receive a plurality of flexible wires or the like extending through said space along said axis for connection to said control elements of said box, a hollow elongated flexible member providing therewithin space for said wires to extend length- Wise therethrough and connected at one end to said hollow suspension member and adapted to be attached at its other end to a support disposed above said suspension member for supporting said suspension member and said control box, and an anti-friction bearing disposed between said suspension member and said control box, said bearing having a part supported by said suspension member and another part supported by said first part in bearing relation to said rst part and for rotation of said parts relative to cach other on said generally vertically extending axis of rotation, said other part being connected to said control box to support said control box for rotational movement of said control box together with said other part relative to said suspension member, said bearing being of annular form providing a space for said wires, said flexible member and said hollow suspension member and said antifriction bearing being capable of sustaining the weight of said control box while providing :for said rotational movement thereof, said anti-friction bearing comprising a rolling element between and in rolling relation to said parts to provide for said rotational movement of said parts relative to each other on said axis and said weight sustaining bearing therebetween.

2. A suspension device as deiined in claim 1 which comprises a stop member connected to one of said parts of said bearing to rotate therewith relative to said other part, and an abutment connected to said other part of said bearing to rotate therewith relative to said first part and adapted to engage said stop member for limiting the extent of said rotational movement.

3. A suspension device as defined in claim 1 in which said anti-friction bearing is a ball bearing having one of its ringsl supported by said suspension member and the other ring connected to said control box to support the weight thereof.

Ll. A suspension device for a pendant control box carrying a plurality of individual electric control elements operable on at least one .face of the box for controlling the operation or a machine tool or the like when operatively connected thereto, said device comprising a hollow suspension member disposed above said control box and providing within said member a substantially unobstructed space through which centrally of the space an axis of rotation of said control box ex- L tends generally vertically, said space being adapted to receive a plurality of flexible wires or the like extending through said space along said axis for connection to said control elements of said box, a hollow elongated flexible member providing therewithin space for said wires to extend lengthwise therethrough and connected at one end to said hollow suspension member and adapted to be attached at its other end to a support disposed above said suspension member for supporting said suspension member and said control box, and an anti-friction bearing disposed between said suspension member and said control box, said bearing having a part supported by said suspension member and another part supported by said first part in bearing relation to said rst part and for rotation of said parts relative to each other on said generally vertically extending axis of rotation, said other part being connected to said control box to support said control box for rotational movement of said control box together with said other part relative to said suspension member, said bearing being of annular form providing a space for said wires, said flexible member and said hollow suspension member and said anti-friction bearing being capable of sustaining the weight of said control box while providing for said rotational movement thereof. said anti-friction bearing comprising a rolling element between and in rolling relation to said parts to provide for said rotational movement of said parts relative to each other on said axis and said weight sustaining' bearing therebetween, one of said parts providing a spherical surface extending about said vertical axis and engaged by said rolling element for rolling movement oi said element in a vertically extending plane to provide or tilting movement of said parts relative to each other about an axisl transverse to said vertical axis and swinging movement of said control box relative to said suspension member.

5. A suspension device as dened in claim 4 which comprises a stop member connected to one of said parts of said anti-friction bearing to tilt therewith relative to the other of said parts, and an abutment connected to said other part of said ani-friction bearing to tilt therewith relative to said rst part and adapted to engage said stop member for limiting the extent of said swinging movement of said control box relative to said suspension member.

6. A suspension device as defined in claim 4 which comprises a stop member connected to one of said parts of said anti-friction bearing to rotate and to tilt therewith relative to the other of said parts, and abutment means connected to said other part of said anti-friction bearing to rotate and to tilt therewith relative to said first part and adapted to engage said stop member for limiting the extent of said rotational movement and of said swinging movement of said control box relative to said suspension member.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

